Burning Bushes in Our Midst
Scripture – Exodus 3:1-3: 1Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
Reflection: Once again there seems to be a fairly large time gap in between the end of chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3. Here Moses is comfortably settled in his new life. I imagine his memories of Egypt had drifted far to the back of his mind.
Yet God’s work is not done. God’s plans for Moses have not yet been accomplished. Here, as He so often does, God inserts Himself into the midst of daily routine.
Moses’ attention was drawn to the burning bush. Only this was not a normal fire or bush. I picture it as something like today’s artificial fireplaces where logs appear to burn while, in fact, they do not. Only this was not gas-fueled, but Spirit-fueled.
The writer tells us the angel of the Lord appeared here. I’ll keep my eyes open today. I have a lot of routine things I plan to do. I wonder how many burning bushes I’ve overlooked just because I wasn’t paying attention. What might we see today if we do?
An Invitation: A small group will be meeting tomorrow morning from 9:45 – 10:30am to share what we’ve learned and seen in this week’s readings. We’ll meet in the Pastor’s office at Bethel Baptist Church, 13330 Trenton Road in Southgate. Everyone’s welcome to join us.
Reading for Sunday, December 7
Scripture – Exodus 3:4-6: 4When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
Reflection: Once again there seems to be a fairly large time gap in between the end of chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3. Here Moses is comfortably settled in his new life. I imagine his memories of Egypt had drifted far to the back of his mind.
Yet God’s work is not done. God’s plans for Moses have not yet been accomplished. Here, as He so often does, God inserts Himself into the midst of daily routine.
Moses’ attention was drawn to the burning bush. Only this was not a normal fire or bush. I picture it as something like today’s artificial fireplaces where logs appear to burn while, in fact, they do not. Only this was not gas-fueled, but Spirit-fueled.
The writer tells us the angel of the Lord appeared here. I’ll keep my eyes open today. I have a lot of routine things I plan to do. I wonder how many burning bushes I’ve overlooked just because I wasn’t paying attention. What might we see today if we do?
An Invitation: A small group will be meeting tomorrow morning from 9:45 – 10:30am to share what we’ve learned and seen in this week’s readings. We’ll meet in the Pastor’s office at Bethel Baptist Church, 13330 Trenton Road in Southgate. Everyone’s welcome to join us.
Reading for Sunday, December 7
Scripture – Exodus 3:4-6: 4When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
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